Devil's Daughter
by demonic hellfire
Summary: Faith is the daughter of a blind lawyer
1. Revelations

Thanks to Oxnate for Betaing this chapter

I don't own Marvel of Buffy

Just a heads up the legal side will be iffy at best because I'm not a lawyer.

L.A.

A blind man walked into the DA building "I'm here to see the prosecutor for the Faith Lehane double homicide case." He said to the woman sitting at the front desk.

"Down the hall, third door on your right - if he is in." The receptionist said automatically.

"Thank you." The blind man said as he walked down the hall using his cane to 'guide' him as to not draw suspicion to himself. When he got to the door he paused to listen. Hearing a heartbeat inside, he knocked.

"One second." A male voice on the other side said. As the ADA opened the door he was surprised to see a blind man on the other side. "Come in," the ADA said as the blind man entered the small office the ADA had "is there anything I can get for you?" He asked.

"No. Thanks for the offer though." The blind man said.

The ADA walked back behind his desk and sat down. "I heard you were coming to discuss the Lehane case. I'm sorry to have wasted your time but that's an open and shut case if there ever was one. She was one of the original suspects and her confession makes anything else moot." The ADA said.

"I have to disagree with you there." The blind man said.

"Why would you say that?" The ADA asked quizzically. Wondering if this man knew more than he was letting on.

"Parental rights in the case were ignored by not informing either parent of the charges against her so that they could mount a defense. Also no effort was made to determine her state of mind when she confessed, so the confession should not have been allowed. Add that to the fact that she was attacked just before the alleged murder. A fact her original defense team failed to raise." The blind man said. He worked not to grin as he heard the ADA's heart beat skyrocket.

"Mistakes made by the defendant's council are not my concern. Now I'm going to ask you to leave." The ADA said nervously. Who was this man? And even if there were mistakes they weren't critical for the conviction, he thought to himself.

As the blind man turned to leave he paused, turned to the ADA, and said plainly "By the way my name is Matt Murdoch and I'm Faith's father." Those two pieces of information caused the ADA to nearly faint.


	2. Family reunion

Thanks to Oxnate for Betaing this chapter

Faith was busy working out when one of the guards told her she had a visitor. Who could it be? Faith thought to herself. Wesley had visited her two days ago and Kate had yesterday. The fact that it was sunny out made her certain that it was not Angel unless he had used the sewers. As she got to the area in the prison assigned for visitors the guard directed her over to a table where a blind man was sitting. Faith was now confused. Why did a blind man want to see her?

"Hello Faith. My name is Matt Murdoch." The man said in a New York accent.

"What do you want?" Faith nearly growled.

"Just to see my daughter again." Matt said in an even tone.

"Funny one." Faith smirked.

He matched her smirk. "Well, maybe 'see' was the wrong word." he admitted.

"So how often do you pull this scam?" Faith said sarcastically.

"It's not a scam. The only reason I'm here is because I read an article in the LA Times about you and how one of the doctors treating you while you were in a coma said that radiation was bonded to your DNA." Matt said.

"So how does that make you my father?" Faith asked. She was pissed off. Radiation in her DNA? How could that have happened?

"My partner, Foggy, said you look like a cross between me and an old girlfriend of mine." Matt said trying not to piss off Faith.

"How does that prove anything? All I know is that you're a blind man who claims to be my father." Faith snarled.

"A blind man who lost his eyesight to radioactive waste when he was a child." Matt said keeping the tone of his voice even.

"Prove it. Use DNA to prove your claim." Faith said half believing what he had said.

"Can't. The radiation in your blood makes DNA comparison impossible. However here's a photo of your mom, and before you ask - I did not even know you existed before I read the article in the LA Times." Matt said as he got up and left leaving Faith to ponder what he had just said.

* * *

Wolfram & Hart building

"Fuck." was all Lilah could say. From the contacts in the LA prison where Faith was being held they had learned that Matt Murdoch had just visited her. Matt was a hell of a lawyer, showing up Wolfram and Hart time after time. And worse, he was claiming to be her biological father. Whether it was true or not didn't matter. He'd have the Slayer out of jail in just a few days and her bosses' plans for her would go down the tubes. She wondered if it was too late to request a transfer to another location.


	3. Prophecy of the beast and more revelatio

Thanks to ltlconf for betaing this chapter

Sunnydale

'The daughter of perfect death and the blind devil will face The Beast of The Hand in the form of one who died at the hands of a member of Aurelius, the mentor of the partner of son of a champion will train her.'  
Giles could not translate any more of the prophecy that he had found in the Codex. Whoever had written it had switched to a different dialect of Latin that he was not familiar with. Although he hated to admit it, whoever had written this prophecy had tried to hide its meaning from everyone. Giles had already racked his brain and could not find any demonic species that was called 'perfect death' and searches for one called 'the blind devil' where even less fruitful. The son of a champion likely referred to Robin Wood because that was the only way the prophecy made any sense in his mind. Although certainly the matter of Glory was far more important at this time.

* * *

Hyperion

Angel could not believe what he was hearing: Someone had scared Lilah Morgan enough to cause her to ask for a transfer! Even more surprising was the fact that some lawyer from New York City had shown up claiming to be Faith's father. Angel had learned from Wesley that Matt was indeed Faith's father, but even Wesley could not figure out how he had learned of Faith being in jail. Well, that was until Cordelia had pointed out that a story on Faith had run in the LA Times. The fact that he seemed to scare Lilah told them that he was not one to be messed with. Just then a blind man walked into the lobby.

Moving to the front of the reception desk Angel asked, "Who are you?".

"Matt Murdoch, and I'm just wondering what you know about Faith." Matt said in a firm tone.

"She's a psycho." Cordelia said before Angel or Wesley could stop her.

"From what I've read on her so far she is simply a traumatized, self-destructive teen." Matt said 'glaring' at Cordelia.

"She killed two people." Cordelia said.

"One in a situation that is a case of mistaken identity. The other is just her word, and the fact no psychological evaluation was done means that she never should have even received that particular charge in the first place." Matt said.

"How is one a case of mistaken identity?" Cordelia asked, realizing he knows a lot more then he lets on.

"Cause of death was a wooden stake through the heart, so Faith had mistaken him for a vampire -not that I'll say that in a court of law." Matt said smirking.

"You know," was all Cordelia could say. This took her off guard as in their experience other then Wolfram & Hart, no lawyers seemed to know about the supernatural.

"Yes, I know and I'm surprised that you allow a vampire to be that close to you even in daytime." He said before he left the Hyperion leaving them gaping and wondering who was he exactly.

Angel turned to Wesley "Any ideas as to how he can sense me, but not the having me sense him?" He asked.

Wesley was stunned "The Council had no information on him knowing about the supernatural and wrote him off as a non-factor at best, although I'm beginning to see why he is feared by Wolfram & Hart."


	4. Cryptic prophecies and court dates

Thanks again to ltlconf for betaing this chapter

Sunnydale Magic Shop

"You know Giles I really hate prophecies," Buffy said as she sat down.

"I have to agree with Buffy on that one Giles" Willow chirped.

"Yeah isn't this from the same book as the one that said Buffy will 'die'?" Xander was still not convinced by what Giles had just said.

"Yes well, we have Kendra and Faith to prove that she did in fact 'die'. Lets go over the parts of the prophecy the daughter of perfect death and the blind devil. Any ideas on what that could mean?" Giles asked.

"I've known many blind demons, but no devils." Anya said causally.

"How 'bout 'perfect death?'" Buffy asked.

Anya perked up at that. "Now that sounds familiar."

"'The Beast of the Hand,' what's that?" Xander asked ignoring his girlfriend.

"I have no idea. So far I've found no mention of it." Giles said.

Anya, a little miffed at being snubbed jumped in again. "I heard whispers of it when I was a vengeance demon, but it is a myth even to them. The power it was said to possess easily surpasses your typical hell god and maybe on level with some of the Old Ones." That shocked everyone. Well it shocked Giles and Willow. The rest, however, got the gist of the threat from the pair's paleness.

As Anya looked at the Codex which Giles had open to the page the prophecy was on she nearly collapsed. Xander rushed over to his girlfriend.

"Everything all right Anya?" He asked, concerned and a little scared.

"The prophecy had something in it that directly affected me for some reason." Anya said getting to her feet.

"Something in the prophecy affected you?" Willow asked just as Tara walked in.

"What prophecy affected who?" Tara asked concerned as always.

"Me, and the one Giles has in the Codex," Anya replied. As Tara looked at the Codex and said prophecy she noticed that two words had an aura of pure rage.

"What does subpono per mean?" She asked Giles.

"'Forged by rage' is of the other phrases I managed to translate, although there is nothing after it for some reason." Giles stated.

"So something forged by pure rage if I judge the aura the two words are giving off." Tara stated.

"Yes well the prophecy also had the phrase 'gulo gulo.'" Giles added, deep in thought. "Also the phrase the 'prime islander turned to a native of a nation twice hit by the wrath of Apollo' was mentioned. I checked and no nation has been hit twice by the wrath of Apollo. Also Buffy the prophecy mentioned something about someone you harassed whose parents died. Anya is there such a thing as a living ghost, the prophecy mentions that."

"I can only think of one person Giles, but I don't know where she went," Buffy said after some thought.

"Nothing comes to mind," added Anya.

"Okay, did I say I hate prophecies. Why can't they just be straight forward and tell us who, what, when, where, and why?" Buffy ground out, pissed off at the prophecy that was the most cryptic one so far. Thus one that made no sense at all, and certainly not to her.

* * *

LA County Courthouse

Matt could not help but smirk as the judge chewed the ADA apart. He had just told him the grounds for a dismissal and the judge agreed the lack of a psych evaluation, among other embarrassing crew-ups, made the case against Faith nonexistent. So now the judge was making it clear to the ADA that she was not happy about the embarrassment to the LA County justice system, wasting of her time, and of tax-payer money.

* * *

Unknown location

"It is done," a voice said.

Another voice said, "The Beast of the Hand is reawakened. Now it is time for our us to make our move."

* * *

Japan

In the shadows a male voice spoke. "The Beast of the Hand has been unleashed."

"Send the blade," came the reply.


	5. After the verdict

LA

Across the street from the courthouse Phillip Foley lined his shot up on Faith Lehane in his gun-sights. Just as he was about to pull the trigger a playing card sliced through his throat, killing him in a spray of arterial blood. Bullseye stepped out from cover and smirked coldly. Fisk had ordered him to keep DD's daughter safe for the sole reason that Wolfram & Hart wanted her out of the way. Bullseye didn't care why Fisk wanted to protect DD's daughter and didn't want for that matter. What did matter was that Fisk was paying twice his normal fee, something the crime lord rarely did and only in circumstances where failure was not an option. He loved a good challenge.

Already Bullseye had killed ten assassins hired to kill this girl and none of them had been much of a fight. They choose locations where Bullseye, with his years of experience had, deduced easily. Boring really, but did mean that he had a less rivals to compete with for contracts. Okay so it wasn't much of a challenge, but it was entertaining. Plus it would weed out the rank amateurs.

From the affects on the assassins killed so far it appeared that Wolfram & Hart was not the only group gunning for DD's daughter. Some group called the Watchers Council was also interested in her for what ever reason. The Watchers had sent a surprisingly professional hit squad that Bullseye took out use an anti-tank mine strapped to the bottom of their black SUV.

Just then the assassins phone rang. Bullseye dug the cell out, then opened and answered it. "Phillip why haven't you fucking killed her?" A very pissed off female voice asked on the other end of the line.

"Sorry Phillip can't answer the phone can't come to the phone right now, he's got a case of dead." Bullseye said flatly before he hung up even as he scanned the surrounding buildings for other possible sniper nests.

* * *

Wolfram & Hart building

'Who the fuck was that?' Lilah Morgan thought. Her gut told her that this quite possibly the same person who'd blown up the Watchers Council wet works team, but wasn't certain. Someone was certainly protecting Faith Lehane however, of that there was no doubt. But who?

Murdoch had not met with any one of importance other then Angel, and then only for a brief chat. The cunning lawyer drummed the desk with her fingers even as she worked the problem. 'The Punisher? No, he would've killed Lehane, not kept her alive. Deadpool maybe? Unlikely as hell. The voice on the other end was definitively not that of the 'Merc with the Mouth'! Bullseye maybe, but he was on Fisk's payroll and Fisk certainly had no reason to support Murdoch...' A sudden flare of realization hit the dark-haired lawyer and she slapped the desk hard. 'That's got to be it! Fisk hated Wolfram & Hart almost as much as he hated costume 'heroes' maybe more. So that angle might just work. Hell, it's the only thing that does. But that didn't explain taking out the Council...unless Fisk wanted to make it clear that he would not let anyone hurt Lehane.' Lilah smiled grimly. It made sense and if she was right, her employers now knew their real enemy. She could only hope that would save her from the backlash of the failed operation.

* * *

Fisk Tower NYC

Fisk smiled and chuckled chillingly. Bullseye had managed to save Matthew's daughter from the assassins and, surprisingly enough, a Council wet-works team. How a girl who had committed two murders had managed to get a wet-works squad after her he had no idea. But after the anti-tank mine to one of their SUVs he doubted they would try it again. If they did...well they'd have words.

* * *

Hyperion Hotel

Angel was still pissed at Wesley for failing to provide the very basic detail that Faith was under-aged when she was in Sunnydale. Something that if he'd known the plan with him pretending to sleep with Faith after the loss his soul would never have happened. As it was, the only reason he had went along with it was because he thought that she was eighteen granted that did not stop him and Buffy but he did not like the idea of sleeping with an underage woman just to derail the mayor's plans.

Cordelia was thinking hard about Faith and reaching conclusions that left her less than proud. Sure, she'd never believed Buffy was telling the whole truth about what had happened in that alley, but the fact that someone had managed to prove that Buffy **had** left a lot out...was guilt inducing. Alot of pain because of something unsaid. Now Cordy couldn't help but think Faith wasn't a psycho, unlike the rest of the Scoobs in Sunnydale. But maybe that proved something itself. Everyone else seemed to think Buffy could do no wrong, but Cordelia had never drank that Cool-Aid. That Cordelia knew now that Faith had a troubled past only made it worse. Why hadn't anyone noticed?

Faith's father seemed to believe she was innocent despite what he knew, and that from just from just a brief talk with her. Cordelia knew very well that a good lawyer was VERY hard to fool, and Murdoch was both very good and, being blind, unlikely to be swayed by Faith's big brown eyes.

She had seen the Angel and Wesley going at the last few days due to the revelation that Faith was seventeen at the time it all went down. Knowing that now, Cordelia had to put how she viewed Faith in a different perspective. When she looked at Faith as a teenager, most of what Faith had done made sense. And again the guilt speared through her.

Wesley was silently cursing himself even as he poured another scotch. He'd thought they had all known Faith was seventeen. After all, Giles had to had known and he would have told them. Logical assumption really. But he now knew that this was not the case. Damn.  
And whoever had written off Murdoch as a non-factor didn't think through what the blind man was known for: Being a damnedly sharp legal and investigative mind. Also, now that he thought about it, Murdoch seemed to know about the supernatural world to a degree enough to recognize a vampire without seeing him. This made what the Council had thought of him completely off the mark. An understatement really. And that led one to consider what else they didn't know about one Matthew Murdoch...

* * *

Outside LA courthouse

Matt smiled with a degree of vicious humor. The ADA was forced to deal with a rabid press smelling blood, including some that had been in the courtroom and witnessed him being verbally abused by the judge. He then heard the heartbeat that belong to his mentor, Stick. As he and Faith moved away from the field of shouting reporters, Stick made his move. "Hello Matt."

"Stick." Matt replied calmly. Faith was confused, how did Matt know this man?

"Who is the young lady with you Matt?" Stick asked in a friendly manner.

"My daughter." Matt replied simply.

"Ah! So that part of the prophecy is clear now." Stick said with a firm nod. Faith judged that by Matt expression he had no clue what was going on as well.

"What prophecy Stick?" Matt asked, teeth grinding. The last thing he need now was some mystical BS popping up just as he'd found his daughter. But then this was Stick.

"The one of the Beast of the Hand being revived." Stick replied calmly. The way her father acted about hearing this told Faith that he knew something about what was going on and was less than thrilled.

"What makes that different from their foot soldiers?" Matt asked in a way that helped Faith realize that Matt knew more than just something about the supernatural world.

"The Beast is more powerful then anyone you have faced before," the older man answered, a hint of caution in his voice.

"Wait, the Hand, what are they?" Faith asked her curiosity making her worry a bit. Her newly found dad was concerned, and apparently for her. A very new experience and Faith liked it. She'd expected something to try and take it away. That was her life, after all.

"A cult of mystic ninjas." Was Stick's simple and succinct reply.

"Soooo, why does the prophecy involved me?" Faith asked guardedly but trying for nonchalance. Didn't work though. Her dad seemed to sense her uneasiness.

"Your father and a infamous assassin named Electra had a child" Faith looked at her father with a mix of admiration (for landing such a woman) and unease (the same). "The prophecy included the phrase 'perfect death' so that pinpoints Electra, while the phrase..." Stick started to say when Matt cut him off.

"Let's go to a location where people aren't around before you continue," Matt said. Stick agreed it was wise and led the pair towards a dojo that he apparently owned.

As they entered the building, Stick went to a corner and picked up a katana with a beautifully lacquered sheath, and handed it to Faith. "What is this?" Faith asked in an awed voice, forget to act nonchalant. She did love a good blade after all.

"That is the Muramasa Blade that was forged in the nineteen-fifties. It is the sole weapon that can kill the Beast." Stick said.

"What makes you think she wants to get involved in this." Matt said annoyed at Stick's presumption. Mentor or not, he had no right.

"She's a Vampire Slayer." Stick said with utter confidence.

"With all the supernatural things that happen around New York, and that Inferno mess a few years back that's not to hard to believe, Stick, although I don't know exactly what that means. This is my daughter we're talking about here." Matt said in a voice that said clearly he was tired of half answers and body language that screamed his intent to protect his daughter.  
Faith, judging by her father's frustration and actions (and the fact he openly stated that he did not know what she was), had now removed any doubt as to her father's sincerity towards her.

"True, however if the Beast is not stopped it will be hell on Earth." Stick said in a tone that showed that this was a very grave situation indeed.


	6. Sunnydale reactions

Sunnydale

To say that Buffy was in a bad mood was an understatement. She had just seen on TV that Faith was free and clear of all charges against her, but she knew enough from civics class to get the concept of "double jeopardy."  
Faith would never be retried again.  
Not only that, but Angel had given her no heads up as to Faith! When she had called him at the Hyperion all she got was one very drunk Wesley, which was not a whole ball of fun. Now to top off her wonderful day, she was staring face to face with a flaming skull biker who had just shrugged off one of her harder punches as if it were a love tap. "I have no quarrel with you Slayer." The biker growled out.

"Well that doesn't mean anything to me, you'll just kill innocent people if I let you go." Buffy growled at the biker. The biker seemingly shook his head in frustration, grabbed the chain that was wrapped over his shoulder, and with blinding speed snapped one end at the Slayer like a whip. Buffy was a nanosecond too slow and got nailed right between her eyes with enough force to send her sprawling back a good ten feet. As stunned, shaky Slayer got to her feet she saw a roaring motorcycle with flaming wheels pulled up to the biker. As he got on the biker looked over his shoulder as he drove off. "The name's Zarathos, and I've sent the Devil himself back to Hell with the help of my mortal half. I truly have no quarrel with you...and not all humans are innocent."

When Buffy got to the Magic Shop a few minutes later Giles saw the expression of frustration on her face...and an interesting bruise on her forehead. "Buffy, dare I ask what is wrong?"

"Got my ass handed to me by a demon named Czar-a-toast, an annoyed Buffy replied even as Anya came in as well.

"Why would you pick a fight with Zarathos?" Anya paling severely as she asked in hushed voice.

"Anya, how do you know it was Buffy who started the fight and not this Zarathos?" Giles asked. Judging by Anya's pallor this Zarathos was a major threat.

"He's Gods' literal Spirit of Vengeance!" Anya snapped back. Knowing Anya as they did, Giles and Buffy did, Anya was not one to lie about the status of a demon.

"Like what you used to be?" Buffy asked carefully. Anya having an ex-vengeance demon was useful, but not most of the time. Most times she was simply too high strung, but this went beyond that. This was true, absolute terror.

"No!" The agitated former demon shot back. "He is far more powerful then I ever was." Anya cringed a bit at the thought of what would happen if she ran into him.

Buffy looked sharply at Anya, "He said that he sent the Devil himself back to Hell with the help of his mortal half." Before Giles could ask what else she had gotten from him when Anya butted in as expected.

"Johnny Blaze." Anya said smirking.

"Who?" Buffy and Giles asked in unison.

"Johnny Blaze, Zarathos mortal half. I figured you'd like to know who it was so I just told you." Anya said in a smug, matter of fact tone.

"And how do you know that?" Buffy asked, trying to stay polite. Sometimes Anya could interject herself at the worse of times. She'd been about to ask if Giles if he knew anything about why Faith was getting out of jail that had not said in the press. Buffy knew all she felt she needed to know about...whoever he was. Potential Big-Bad, need big plan, so worry later. Then Anya has to...

"I'm on another continent whenever Zarathos is around," Anya replied, "and vengeance demons have a tracking spell on him at all times so that he does not have a chance to kill any of us off." Buffy nodded. That made sense as Anya had a self-preservation streak a mile wide. Something they'd learned of when she ran away as the Mayor was coming too close to completing his foiled Ascension.

"Know your enemy." Giles said sagely.

"Okay, enough on Czar-a-toast! Giles, do you know anything about Faith getting off scott-free?" Buffy asked.

"No, I'm afraid I didn't even know, well, until now Buffy," Giles replied shaken, more than worried over Faith being out of jail. How could the Council let that happen, much less let Faith live after she had killed two people and tried to ruin Buffys' life?

"Yeah, when I tried to contact Angel, but all I got was a very, and I mean very, drunk Wesley." A very pissed off Buffy spat out.

"You do know that Angel has caller ID so that Wolfram & Hart can't lure him into a trap Buffy." Giles said.

"You mean that Angel knew this was going down and did't tell us?" Buffy nearly roared.

"Afraid so. I suspect that Angel probably did this for some reason I can't figure out. At least at this moment in time." Giles stated.

"Deadboy's reasons for what G-man?" A familiar voice from behind them asked. As they turned around they saw Xander standing in the doorway to the shop, donut box in hand.

Buffy turned back to Giles and stated what was really bugging her. "Why he didn't tell us that Faith is walking out of jail scott-free." Buffy said.

"She's what?!" Xander nearly shouted.

"Exactly my reaction," Buffy said, "though at least I tried to keep my voice down when I heard the news."

"Have you called him yet?" Xander asked, then realized by the glare Buffy was giving him that that was a yes.

"I'm just surprised the Council let it happen." Buffy said with her trademark 'angry pout' as she took a seat.

"What about that terrorist attack? Maybe that was the Council's strike team that was inside of that SUV." Xander asked as he took a jelly donut. He'd happened to have heard about it from some of the other men at the construction site.

Buffy just shook her head, "Xander, Faith couldn't have set that up, she was in jail at the time and Angel wouldn't go for that." Xander hated Angel, but knew she was right.

"Okay just wondering." Xander said sheepishly, looking a little deflated.

"Giles, the news said the lawyer representing her was Matt Murdoch. Does that name ring any bells?" Buffy asked Giles.

"No," Giles shook his head and sighed, "it does not I'm afraid." Giles was in fact trying to figure out how exactly someone had managed to take out the Council's wet-work team without it meaning seen. He was actually impressed...and wasn't fond if the wetwork team in any case.

* * *

Unknown location

"The one who you ordered to be revived has been my Master." A male voice said to the Beast.

"Good." The voice of the Beast growled, "Now where is that ninja master I wanted to meet?"

"My apologies, my Lord. He is waiting in the antechamber." The same male voice replied.

"Send him in." The Beast ordered. The man rose and went to the door, allowing the ninja master to enter.

"Greetings, I've heard you wish to form an alliance with me." The darkly robed ninja master stated. It was not a question, this one was no one's servant.

"Yes," the Beast nodded with respect, "and in return I'll make sure that your 'daughter' is yours once again."

Ogun smiled coldly. "Then...we have a deal."


	7. Clearer picture and Karma can be a bitch

Thanks again to my beta ltlconf for looking over this chapter

Two days later LA

Stick could not help but grin at the progress Faith was making in learning the way of the ninja. He had already connected the identities of the other people involved in the prophecy. Better yet, Stick was aware the Hand had already, and unwittingly, assured their involvement. Karma could be funny that way.

Stick was glad as well that Matt had already told her about his alter-ego, otherwise the first time his former pupil was in combat, Faith would be more than a little suspicious about how he could fight so well despite his blindness.

Then Stick heard Matt ask his daughter "How long did you live on the streets?"

Faith shrugged, "Two years. How did you know?"

"Cigarettes. The nicotine in them reduces makes a person not as hungry. Been in the New York most of my life, that trick is very common there."

"Yeah," a gruff voice interrupted. "But unless you have a mutant healing factor like me, they kill."  
Matt and Faith turned they saw staying in the doorway, a fierce looking, short, middle-aged looking man with alot of hair. Next to him was a East Asian teen girl wearing a yellow trench-coat; next was somewhat older, slender girl with brown hair and intense eyes, looked to be about Faith's age...and armed, although Faith was trying to figure out why she couldn't sense the purple dragon on the girl's left shoulder; and lastly a striking older Asian woman, maybe in her 30s, with purple hair.  
Faith had heard of mutants before, but had assumed they were a term humans used for demons. However now that she was close to some, she realized that she was wrong.  
Stick nodded his head genially at his new male guest and his companions, "Good to see that you could join us old friend."

"You once mentioned the Hand resurrecting my original body?" The purple haired women opened. The refined English accent would've had confused Faith if not for the interesting content of the women's question/statement distracting her.  
Before Stick could answer though both her father and the "Hairy Guy" tensed up. Before Faith could ask why men in red ninja robes burst through the doors of the dojo.  
As the ninjas attacked, Faith quickly found herself fighting back to back with the brown hair girl who was holding her own using a katana to fend off the ninjas sword thrusts with ease. Faith was not only blocking the ninjas, she was tearing them to shreds, but did not get overconfident. She knew that would get her killed in this situation. Faith heard the sound of metal on metal all throughout the fight but it seemed loudest were the short guy had been at the start of things.

Matt was fending off the Hand foot soldiers that were going after him. He'd been near the weapon rack when the fighting started so had grabbed a katana right off. He was mainly fighting defensively, attacking only when he felt that he had an opening.

Kitty Pryde was fighting back to back with the brunette girl who'd been there when they had arrived. Currently she was simply killing the Hand who were foolish enough to get in range of her katana rather than going on the offensive: no reason to. She'd already heard Logan unsheathe his claws and he was killing the Hand wholesale and with ease. However it was as if one died another took his place only to be killed as well. For her part Psylocke was doing well, cutting the Hand down with telekinetic blasts and skilled physical attacks.  
Meanwhile Jubilee was frying them nicely with her orbs of energy, doing her best to stay out of reach. Lockheed was burning any of them that he could to a crisp; what a pal.  
Looked to be a long fight though... Kitty sighed internally: So not the way she wanted to spend her time in LA.

Then suddenly a burst of hellfire came in from the street outside. It incinerated the remaining members of the Hand outside, leaving those inside to be taken down quickly. Faith felt whoever had just hurled that seemed to have her demonic radar screaming 'ally' for some reason.

* * *

England

Travers cursed profusely. Someone had killed the wet-works team assigned to kill the Slayer Lehane, now he could only hope that it was not connected back to the Council. These were to be the last thoughts the man ever had, as a .338 Lapua round, fired from a sniper rifle located 1000 meters distant, ripped through his brain and blew off the rear-half of his skull. **(A/N before anyone says it should have been an armor piercing round. That type of round is less effective at that range from what my beta ltlconf tells me and he knows more about guns then I do.)**

Castle smirked. The unknown tip he had gotten had led him to this man, a man whose orders had killed so many innocent lives. Now the source had also given him a near total picture of his next target: Wolfram & Hart.

* * *

NYC

Fisk smirked the information he had recently gained about the Watchers Council. He'd given it all to Frank Castle, anonymously of course, and it had resulted in the course of action he knew that would follow. He had also sent him all he had on Wolfram & Hart.  
Fisk chuckled to himself as he puffed on a fine Romeo & Juilta cigar. No one would have ever expected him to use Castle as a quasi-ally, but Fisk was doing exactly that.  
The enemy of my enemy is my friend...or at least useful ally. Very true words indeed.

* * *

Sunnydale, CA

Giles could not believe what he had just been told: someone had just killed Travers. On one hand he was worried about a possible threat to his Slayer. On the other, he simply couldn't find it in himself to be all that upset over the actual killing.  
Indeed Giles felt an urge to toast the assassin with a sniffer of scotch. He got up and went to his liquor cabinet with a smirk; not a bad way to end the day really...

* * *

LA

Wesley, who was just barely sober, was stunned someone had managed to kill Travers. "About bloody time," he murmured under his breathe. He figured that was worth one more drink before sobriety kicked in.


	8. First Strike

Sorry about the delay trouble contacting my beta no fault on either of us, but most likely a internet provider problem. And ltlconf thanks for betaing

Dojo after the battle

As Faith looked at the newest arrival she could not help but feel pity for him. To have sent his surogate father to hell, because he had made a deal with the Devil was bad enough, but then to have God's spirit of vengeance forced into him? That was not something that she'd ever expected to hear!

Moreover, when Johnny Blaze was in Ghost Rider form, something she recognized from when Diana had been showing her supernatural super-heroes, he'd said that she had no blood on her hands, something that still shocked her. After that they had gotten down to business and Logan was chosen to be put in charge of the group. Mainly because the mutant and former special operator had the most experience at leading motley crews on dangerous missions.

* * *

Sunnydale

Buffy was walking home from the Magic Box only to be knocked over when she bumped into a woman with purple hair. As Buffy was about to help the woman get to her feet and then apologize she found herself unable to breath thanks to a sudden strike to the throat. "You are lucky gaijin," the woman said in an accent Buffy couldn't place. "The Beast needs you alive otherwise you would be dead right now." Then, faster than even Buffy could follow, the woman knocked her out cold with a strike to Buffy's temple.

As Buffy floated up to consciousness through a blinding headache, she found herself chained to wall. Without even testing the chains, Buffy knew she felt far weaker than even the cruciamentum had made her. As she looked around she saw that an IV led to her left arm, the tube too far from her hand too be removed to be yanked out.  
"Surprised gaijin?" The Slayer knew the voice. The purple-haired fashion victim that had put her down with two blows.  
Buffy could only glare since the strike to her throat had messed up her vocal cords. Buffy hated that she could not talk back. The strange woman laughed, but Buffy thought it sounded forced for some reason.

"The Hand knows what you are Slayer, and long ago created a drug to remove your powers for as long as we wished. It is far more powerful then that foolish mixture the Council came up with. You see, this drug not only takes your strength, it also takes away your voice!" The woman then added grinning sadistically, "and in about ten minutes it will take your sight and hearing from you as well." Strangely, the smile seemed less than genuine to Buffy, forced as much as the laugh.

However, any sympathy from the Purple-Hair-Lady wasn't going to help her now. Buffy couldn't stop herself from crying as she began struggling to try to get to the IV tube in her arm. From what she had just been told she was going to become completely defenseless, unable to fight back even if she tried in ten minutes, something that chilled her too the core. Buffy, however, wasn't once to just lay down and die, and so thrashed even harder.

The woman watched with some admiration for the Slayer's fighting spirit. Then, as Buffy's exhausted body finally lost consciousness from fighting the chains on her body, she turned and left the room.

Kwannon left the Slayer, knowing that the drug only needed to be injected into her system for ten more minutes, though she was unaware it was also irreversible. Well, unless the Chaste got involved, which was highly unlikely. After all this was a preventive move to take the Slayer out and send a message to the Council. The Council whose current leader Travers hated the Chaste for an unknown reason. Knowing Travers' stubbornness, the Slayer having access to the Chaste was unlikely at best.

As the Slayer lost consciousnesses, Kwannon could not help but feel pity for her. She knew that the Hand had brought her back to life loyal to them, but that did not stop her from trying to fight the control they had over her. Also she had use her telepathic abilities to plant seeds of doubt about how real her sadistic behavior was, hoping that Braddock would be able to pick up on those. Which was a gamble, but knowing Braddock she figured that her being revived would bring her into the this battle. Also it would bring in some of the other X-men mainly Wolverine someone the Hand had reason to fear.

* * *

Sometime later

In the Magic Shop Giles and Anya were cleaning up in the back when all of a sudden they heard the screech of car wheels then sound of shattering glass. As they rushed out to the front of the store they saw Buffy lying prone on the floor of the shop, having gone through the front window.

As Giles rushed over to Buffy he could not help but shudder at the thought of something or someone confident to try and kill her in broad daylight. Yet he was also puzzled at the same time, why use a car to do it?

As he bent down check on the off-chance she was alive, Buffy began to move. Softly, Giles asked his Slayer, "Buffy who did this to you?" When she did not respond Giles put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to get her attention, an action which caused Buffy to shrink away from him and right into Anya. The ex-demon happened to be crouching in an attempt to look into Buffy's eyes to calm her down. Or to get a better look at the damage to the shop which was more likely knowing Anya. This caused the blond Slayer to knock Anya over and at the same time scaring Buffy even more.

As Anya got to her feet she spoke grimly, "Giles I know this is hard for you, but the Hand got to her." She said.

"Are you certain?" He was stunned. Looking at Buffy he could see that she had no idea where she was at the moment.

"Yes Giles I'm certain, I was trying to make eye contact with her, not looking at the damage done to the shop," She said. Then added, "which was what you thought I was doing." Anya suddenly went pale as she looked out the window.

As Giles turned around to see what she saw. He then paled as well as he saw Faith standing outside with people he didn't recognize. He didn't know how, but in his mind he knew with certainty that Faith was in someway responsible for what had just happened to his Buffy. He could feel his Ripper side wanting to come out and play.


	9. First Impressions

Ten minutes earlier

Johnny was thinking about what had just been said when Zarathos spoke up and asked Psylocke and Faith if he could have a look at her memories of the night when Faith accidentally killed Finch. After being given their consent, Zarathos looked at the memories of just the moment when Finch was still alive and shifted the perspective to mystic auras to get a better idea as to why she had done what she did.

What he saw surprised him.

Finch's aura right up until he was staked was the same as a vampire! Then Zarathos used the mystic signature of the person who cast the magic required to fool a Slayer he found a match in Faith's memories almost instantaneously. It was that of the Mayor. This implied heavily that he had been the one who had made Finch appear to be a vampire from Faith's perspective. He came out of his trance and told them. Faith promptly let lose a string of profanities about what the Mayor was, had been birthed too, and his (unlikely) sexual habits. Logan being Logan added a few more in other languages to show his opinion over what the century-old sorcerer had done to Faith.

Now

Faith looked at the Magic Box's shattered window while Giles stared at her in a way that sent shivers up her spine. She was glad Shadowcat had convinced Lockheed to hang back so as to prevent that potentially awkward question. As they approached the shop Matt was checking to make sure they had no one following them and heard the foot step of two females behind him. He noticed from their heartbeats that they seemed to be more than wary of them and overheard one of them say "What's she doing here?" Matt suppressed a groan as he realized they now had two more people they needed to talk with once inside. Given the fact that they didn't know what had really happened that night Psylocke, once she got the memories from this Buffy, would have to add them to the list of those to be shown what had actually happened when Finch died.

Tara was looking at the group, confused at the auras given off by them. They were truly unlike any she had seen before. One resembled that of a werewolf, but not as savage, but at the same time a bit too feral for even that. Another one's aura seemed not to fit their body, one seemed almost not to exist, the one in the rear seemed to have an aura similar to that of a incorruptible cop. Another man who was with them seemed to have two auras, one human and the other she could not figure anything that looked like it. Faith's aura was easy to recognize but she now seemed to have another aura coming off of her, but the girl next to her seemed to have an aura of that of someone who had surplus energy inside of them. Finally, the man in the lead seemed to have an aura of a someone who had been in battle most of their life.

Willow seemed only focused on Faith, but Tara realized that the group Faith was with were each powerful in their own right.

As Stick entered the shop he noticed that the Slayer's Watcher was glaring at Faith with a mix of disgust and hatred. This caused him to smirk. It seemed that whatever had happened here had happened recently. He then looked down and noticed the other Slayer was curled up in a misery-filled ball. He realized that the Hand was already here as he had made no effort to hide his entrance and yet the Slayer had not even moved. Only the Hand defeating and breaking the Slayer would explain this.

"Who are you?" Giles asked, trying not to sound angry and failing.

"The names Stick." He walked towards the downed Slayer, drawing a syringe filled with the antidote to what the Hand had given her. At the same time he mentally told Psylocke to block all interference until he had fully administered the antidote.

Giles saw the older stranger moving towards his Slayer with a syringe and, as he tried to move to intercept him, he found that he could not move a muscle. Stick suppressed a smile as he administered the antidote and thought to himself 'let the fun begin.' They had already agreed upon Logan being the one to stop Buffy from attacking Faith, something Logan knowing what a Slayer was capable of, knew exactly how to do so. Also the fact he was easy to underestimate when people didn't know anything about him aided in this. Summers' would likely go for Faith first leaving herself open to Logan's counterattack. As Sun Tzu wrote, all war is deception, and Logan was surprisingly good at this.

Buffy felt the gab of a needle in her arm and soon began to regain the strength the Hand had stolen from her. As her sight returned, Buffy saw Faith and immediately moved to stand and attack. Suddenly a short, rugged-looking man moved in and, in one swift movement, knocked her back off her feet and on her back. He then shocked Buffy by extending claws from his knuckles, putting two on each side of her throat and into the hardwood floor, the third slowly extended until it touched her larynx. Buffy, no quitter, began to close her fist to try to knock the man off of her only to have him growl "Don't even think about it." It actually sent shivers up her spine. Not even Angelus could do that so easily.

Giles was in shock! The man who had just taken Buffy down in under a second and used a basic leg sweep to do it. Then next he'd extended claws to her throat that did not match any species of demon he had ever heard of. Last, and not the least, by just by looking in her eyes knew that his Slayer was going to try to knock him off of her.

Logan, for his part, knew that he had managed to do what he just had done because Buffy was somewhat disoriented and been taken off her guard. He knew that Buffy had planned to dislodge him by looking at her eyes which had moved to his chest, an amateur mistake that let him know what she was planning on doing, that also made him wonder how she had survived for so long.

Psylocke had to block out many of the thoughts that Buffy was sending, but she had received painted a good picture...

Buffy thought that she was in charge of this town and anyone else had to do it her way or no way. As Psylocke went deeper into Buffy's mind it quickly became apparent that she did not understand one bloody thing about strategy or tactics, preferring to improvise, and yet considered herself a capable leader. She smirked as she realized that Buffy had not attempted to let people join her inner-circle unless attached to or dating a present member, even if they were capable of helping her slay. That would have helped them gain allies and increased their survival chances. Also, from the memories of the Hand capturing her, Psylocke realized that Kwannon was trying to break free from the Hands control. She immediately relayed most of this to Logan. Who sent back quoting Sun Tzu "victorious warriors win first, then goes to war. Defeated warriors go to war first, then seek to win." Psylocke had to agree when Logan put her in the second category. Then she retrieved Buffy's memories of the night Finch had died.

"Try anything and I'll gut you, clear." Logan said as he sheathed his claws. Buffy reluctantly nodded her head still trying to figure out how he'd taken her down so easily. As she looked at the collective group she noticed Jubilee, then realized that everyone with Faith was connected to the prophecy Giles had spoke of.

"Figured it out why we're here B." Faith said.

"Yeah, but you're doing it my way." Buffy spat as glared at Faith.

For Faith that was the last straw. She let out everything she had held against Buffy for months!

"Being a Slayer is a rush for you B, you need it for all your griping. Admit it, you need the rush that being a slayer gives you. For all your griping, it gives you meaning. When I got here the first time you should've been happy that you didn't have to be the Slayer. It's what you said you wanted, yeah? But no!

"Instead you act like I'm the spare when in reality you are. I carry the line, I'm the real deal. Giles knows that, so do you I bet. But it didn't matter, you didn't care. I could've been dead for a couple weeks and you and your friends wouldn't have even noticed until the next Slayer came to town. You claimed to have been my friend, but when I needed someone to turn to you shut me off fast, pretty much acting as if you've never killed before. Which I know you have, ya know. How 'bout the zookeeper and the swim coach? You're a Slayer, you coulda taken them with one hit, and so no pit-o-death. Or Ford, the guy you left for Spike and Dru to snack on? Explain that one! Or all those frat boys you kicked down that well.

"Don't look to surprised, I was with the mayor, so I know about those deaths and Ted to. The guy you went postal Slayer on and kicked down the stairs? Sure, he was a robot, but YOU didn't know that did ya.

No, you didn't. But you judged me. You drove me to him just like he knew you would.

Ya know you're only are alive because of Xander on at least three occasions when Angelus was on the loose? He can tell the difference between Fang and Angelus and he hates the guy. And while you were unable to finish it and saved Angelus undead ass on multiple occasions while he was soulless he was killing left and right. I admit I owe him big, ya? So I can't know if I wouldn't try and save him too. But if I did, I hope I wouldn't risk that many lives doing it.

"You also have left Sunnydale unprotected twice. You hid the fact that Fang was out of hell even though you didn't know if he had a soul. You left me in that craptastic hotel for MONTHS..." Faith closed her eyes for a second. "It's wicked cool that you still wanna be the Slayer and all, B, but everything is your way or the highway, and that attitude results in to many needless deaths." Faith took a breath and Matt couldn't help but smile in pride. Faith seemed to have his knack for taking people apart piece by piece, something he put to good use in

"You forgot she's an A-grade bitch." Jubilee

"Enough! The Hand has resurrected Janna Kalderash to be the Beast." Stick nearly growled causing Giles to faint.

Willow and Tara, who had entered the shop behind Faith's group glaring, were equally shocked by the whole scene in front of them.


	10. Introductions

Stick telepathically told Psylocke to wake Giles up. While she was doing that he overheard Logan say something to Matt about the apple not falling far from the tree and about how Faith could make on hell of a lawyer. He'd heard this of course and had to hide the smirk on his face. The fact that Logan knew that Buffy could hear that implied Logan was trying to get her to foolishly attack Matt, something he knew would wound her pride.

Buffy was still trying to figure out why Faith had said what she had said when she overheard the fuzzy guy say about the the man wearing shades. Chiefly that Faith was very much like him. Buffy then realized that he had to be 'the devil' and, without hesitation, charged him only to be shocked when he deftly dodged her and then hit her in the center of her spine with what she'd thought was simply his cane. It hurt like the dickens and made her lower half go numb for a few seconds, causing her to kiss the floor.

Matt smirked, Logan knew that getting Buffy off their backs would easier now that he had shown her that Murdock could take her down with 'just a cane.'

Giles, whom had just been revived somehow, was now in shock over Buffy attacking the blind man with no warning. More so that he had managed to knock her to the ground with a quick strike to her back with his cane after dodging Buffy no less. Certainly something he had not been expecting.

Willow for her part was also shocked to see Buffy taken down by nothing more than a quick shot to Buffy's back with the cane the man was carrying. Even more that she'd gone after a blind man!

Murdock could read the Slayer's allies' shock over bother her actions and his. "Now, before here decides to humiliate herself anymore, I'm Faith's father. Furthermore, Buffy attacked because she had incomplete information. I am indeed the 'blind devil,' but only metaphorically speaking. You see, I also go by the name Daredevil when I'm fighting crime...long story for another time. And just for the record my partner's last name is Nelson."  
Matt decided to get the introductions over with and avoid time wasting clashes and questions. Nodding his head over the eldest woman in the group, "Psylocke over there was British, but due to events (that are complicated even for someone familiar with what happened) her mind was transferred into that on a Japanese assassin." Matt then nodded to the other young brunette, "Shadowcat, the young lady here, can phase through. well pretty much anything." He then pointed his cane casually to a young Asian girl. "Jubilee, the other young lady over here, can control plasma. She also lost her parents when they were murdered. Oh, and apparently and over here used to harass her at their old high school. He smirked and nodded in Logan's direction, "Logan here, called Wolverine is...well Wolverine. Hurting him is rather pointless as short of vaporizing him you'd just piss him off...and I mean that fondly Logan."  
He then looked at the young man in biker leathers. "Johnny some of you seem to know. He's a useful ally and while bit impulsive at times, he knows what he is doing. Though unlike Ms. Summers he does tend to think through decisions even if he ends up making occasional rash ones. Stick over there is my mentor and leader of the Chaste."

Giles realized that he had gone too literal on the prophecy, because he had not connected Nelson to the son of a champion, which was what it meant in old English. Anya on the other hand had figured out that Gulo Gulo referred to the scientific Latin name for a wolverine. Tara, who had mean told of the prophecy, figured out that Prime Islander referred to England for the Prime Meridian and Apollo's wrath referred to the two atom bombs. Willow had figured out that living ghost referred to Shadowcat as she could move through solid objects.

Just then Buffy noticed a purple iguana with wings flying into the store. Logan, who happened to follow her gaze, said "Thought you told Lockheed to stay away Kitty." This took Buffy off guard they happened to know this demon and were friends with it.

"He has to have a good reason Logan." Shadowcat firmly responded. Just as she said that Lockheed landed on her shoulder and began speaking in a langue that it seemed only the two of them understood. Everyone in her group looked expectantly at Kitty who nodded to her little friend, then spoke up. "Something about a blonde woman looking for her key though I'm not sure."

Before anyone could say anything Johnny face seemed to melt away, his head turning to a flame-wreathed skull much to the shock of everyone who did not knew Johnny. The now-present Ghost Rider growled out, "Glorificus" as he walked towards the door. This shocked Giles for he had not expected for the man who had come in with Faith to figure out Glory's identity just from a poor translation from what appeared to be a dragon. A dragon of all things! But that was impossible, dragons had been wiped out in the medieval times.

"Beat the bitch back to where she came G.R." Logan said smirking.

"That you can by certain of." Ghost Rider said with gleeful malice as he walked out the door.

Kitty saw Giles' stunned expression and Buffy's paranoid glare decided to head of questions. "Before you ask, Lockheed's an alien not a dragon. He's my friend not a pet." Kitty said cutting off the Watcher who had just opened his mouth.

"Long story and one I would like to forget." Logan added. Kitty agreed nearly being turned into a member of the Brood was not one of her fondest memories even if she had met Lockheed on the parasites home world.

* * *

Hyperion Hotel, Angel Investigations, LA

Cordelia was having trouble with the most recent vision she had received. It had only a white skull, a man in black with murderous eyes, the Wolf, Ram, and Hart, and the sound of gunfire. The skull was human looking, but stylized, having three elongated rectangles instead of the normal grinning mouth. The only thing that was clear was this: he was bad news for the bad guys... so long as the man didn't think YOU were the bad guy!

* * *

Wolfram & Hart building downtown LA

Lilah cursed. It now appeared that the Punisher was attacking their buildings both in the US and out. The only reason she could think of was Fisk or someone equally well-connected (and a beef with Wolfram & Hart) had supplied Castle with anonymous information on there security (you can find Wolfram & Hart locations in the phonebook. Their security is another matter.) and let Castle loose to do what he did best. The Senior Partners now had to deal with Frank Castle on top of everything else. That cold chill in her spine was spreading...

* * *

Mexico City, United Mexican States

War Journal

W&H should do a better job on supporting their buildings. Three carefully placed 10 pound C4 charges caused the building's foundations to collapse. The fact that Mexico City is built on a filled-in lake made it so I didn't need too use as many as I would have in most other cities. Of course the demolition was done as to not endanger other buildings. The large plaza surrounding the W&H building, while making a open approach difficult, aided in minimizing collateral damage.  
Anyone who survived was dealt with.

* * *

Fisk Tower, New York City

Fisk smiled. The Punisher had already taken out the Boston, Atalanta, New York City, Washington D.C., and most recently Mexico City branches of Wolfram & Hart. You had to hand it to the man; he was thorough and worked quickly.

Fisk knew that Punisher was not going to make it easy for Wolfram & Hart but even he had not suspected Mexico City to be a target. Castle usually stuck to the US. This also meant that Castle was taking out as well the cartels, which were a big source of clients to Wolfram & Hart. But since he avoided the Mexican cartels, due to their association with Wolfram & Hart, his operations wouldn't lose one cent from Castle's campaign.

Fisk also knew that Castle, being who he was, would not stop until they were all dead and buried. The big man let a cold smile form as he reread the reports.


End file.
